Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on courts on Friday to impose fewer jail sentences for crimes related to the world of business.
Recalling the Soviet era, when people found themselves in jail for insignificant offenses, the Russian president said such practices should be abandoned in modern Russia.
"Criminal responsibility for economic offenses should be treated in a very varied manner," he said.
However Medvedev told ruling United Russia party members that jail sentences should always be handed out "when were are talking about crimes against individuals or against state security."
Medvedev's comments come after former Yukos oil major CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, currently serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion and facing new charges, recently went on hunger strike saying a decree put forward by the president had been violated.
Khodorkovsky said the decree in question stated that individuals charged with economic crimes are not subject to arrest.
But the arrest of once Russia's richest man on the new charges has recently been extended and Khodorkovsky says his arrest and jail sentence, handed out during Vladimir Putin's presidency, were politically motivated.
GORKI, May 28 (RIA Novosti)
